In one fell swoop Scott Adams pretty much killed his primary source of income: Dilbert.
That's... sad. Not because I like Scott Adams. In fact, I never liked him much with his borderline Trump adoration, and the smug way he presents himself as the all-knowing. This time he went one step further and basically dug his own grave by publishing a near racist rant that's simply over the edge. As a result, a 100+ newspapers kicked him and his cartoon out.
Corporate Overlords
And that's bad. Because Dilbert, no matter the origin and the maker, wasn't bad at all. It was a funny take on office culture, and all the stupid things happening on behalf of our corporate overlords. And now it's gone...
Not funny
I guess those who didn't like the Dilbert cartoons either haven't dealt with corporate stupidity, or actually enjoy or profit from them. That's... okay. I can actually understand that. Some might simply not understand the jokes, and that's fine too.
An editor on Time Magazine stated that it was a 'Historical Artifact'. She then uses a lot of words that basically amount to 'Scott Adams had to be taken a notch down' followed by 'I never thought his comics funny'.
I agree on the part where Scott Adams went too far, and might even agree to the statement he is a racist, or at least that he's giving signals of that kind. Many people say so, and I agree. Many people say his cartoons weren't funny, and I disagree there. They might be obstinate, white-guy centric, wrong in all sorts of ways, but sometimes they are right on target. The world is run by idiots, and nothing helps better to identify the nonsense as a bit of sarcastic self-reflection. And yes, some of those jokes might run afoul of today's online crowd.
Dave
Again, I'm not defending Scott Adams. He deserved his fate. But I'm not sorry to say I am going to miss Dilbert, and I'll be damned if I would not admit the comic below was funny... Not because it is deprecating a colored man, but because it shows the despicable behavior of certain levels of management who are more interested in a tick in the statistics box than the actual usefulness of an employee, regardless of color. If Scott Adams was trying to sell me racism, he actually managed to turn me the other way, because I admire the response of Dave.
Was Scott Adams trying to sell me racism? Hell if I can tell. If he did then he made a poor job of it.
Anti-diversity
Now others will claim it is an attack on the 'Woke' or 'Diversity' or 'LGTBQ+' movement, and I immediately admit that it's clear there's little love lost. Then again, satire is a kind of flattery, and in a way the cartoon confirms two things:
A. That there is a need for bringing the subject up, and
B. That some are taking the subject too far
Diversity is essential. It's what we are as a human race. But -- as with so many things -- it's taken a step too far, where we attack all who our not exactly adhering to our own point of view. That's scary. In that direction lies a kind of diversity fascism that keeps me awake at night.
(It's the same people that (on television) stated Johnny Depp should lose the case against Amber Heard, not because he was wrong but because he was a man. The argument was: the outcome will hurt many women because women are often abused, so it would have served the majority better if Depp was found guilty, even if he isn't. I kid you not.)
I think it is perfectly fair to comment on *any* excesses, especially with satire. So even if Scott Adams' purpose might have been dishonest it doesn't stop the comic itself from highlighting certain issues.
Which, again, never justifies Adam's (near?) racist statements.
Farewell, Dilbert
So, good riddance Scott Adams.
And farewell Dilbert. I'm going to miss you now I'm no longer allowed to like the comics.
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